Netanyahu-Police Meeting With Ben-Gvir Sparks Election Integrity Fears

A planned Sunday meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Police Inspector General Dany Levy to discuss preparations for Tuesday's Knesset elections has drawn objections and concerns about political manipulation, particularly with the expected participation of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Levy had previously refused to attend a similar meeting called by Ben-Gvir last Thursday. The Yachad party, led by Gadi Eisenkot, has called for the meeting's cancellation.

According to the newspaper Haaretz, the Central Elections Committee, the body responsible for managing and overseeing election integrity, was not invited to the meeting, nor was the opposition leader. Following the revelation of the meeting's details, the Yachad party urgently appealed to State Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and the President of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Noam Sohlberg, requesting intervention to cancel it. The party argued that the meeting constitutes unwarranted interference in the electoral process, emphasizing that Netanyahu is running in the elections and is not responsible for their integrity, and that the police chief is not subordinate to him on this matter. The party believes there is a reasonable basis to suspect the meeting's aim is to create a false public impression of irregularities in the election's integrity without factual basis.

The party warned that this exceptional meeting could be used to cast doubt on the electoral process's validity and undermine public confidence in its results before they are announced, without any justifying data. The background to the issue stems from Ben-Gvir's invitation last week to the police chief and other senior officials to discuss police preparations for the elections, which drew criticism within law enforcement agencies and fears that the minister might exploit information about these preparations for his campaign.

A senior law enforcement official told Haaretz that Ben-Gvir does not need to be briefed on police preparations and expressed concern he might use the information for political purposes. Sources indicated that Ben-Gvir has largely abstained from professional meetings recently due to his election campaign, making his call for a meeting specifically on election preparations an exceptional step. The Police Inspector General decided not to attend Ben-Gvir's meeting, and other officials also declined, including the head of investigations and intelligence. Ultimately, only the head of police operations attended to provide a brief update to Ben-Gvir, with Levy's permission.

Ben-Gvir responded to the criticism, stating that there is nothing exceptional about the meeting, as it is the minister's duty to hold such discussions, and that this has always happened. He added that if there are no preparations, the minister would be held responsible. Earlier this month, Levy had held a professional meeting regarding the elections with senior police commanders, the acting director-general of the Central Elections Committee, and representatives from the IDF and the Shin Bet, focusing on public order and securing the electoral process.

The meeting called by Netanyahu raises questions about the boundaries of political interference in police election preparations, given the participation of both the Prime Minister and Ben-Gvir, who are candidates, and the absence of the official body overseeing the elections. While the meeting has not been canceled and no decision has been made on Yachad's request, opposition objections center on fears that discussions about police preparations will be used to raise unsubstantiated suspicions about election integrity.